In no particular order.
1. Thought balloons. I didn't realize how much I'd missed these until recent Mighty Avengers issues reminded me. Not that I think they should return across the board, but there's no real equivalent in most current comics.
2. The way that most of the Marvel Universe, particularly its NYC, is so calm about superhero antics. Guy throws a Fiat across the street? Seen it. It's like the weather to them.
3. The old Defenders, the group with Nighthawk and Valkyrie and Hellcat. Never cared much if Doc Strange was in the story, it was the B and C-listers who really made the book.
4. Giant Turtle Olsen.
5. The old Legion of Superheroes, including the soap opera aspects. Saturn Girl in a pink bikini and heels, and still the toughest Legionnaire of them all. The old insecure Brainiac Five. Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel. The Substitute Legion.
6. The old Legion of Superheroes' clubhouse, the one that looked like an upside-down rocketship.
7. Ed Brubaker's Captain America. First book I read every month it comes out.
8. Sharon Carter, who kicks so much ass. Her recent storylines have been tremendous.
9. That Defenders story where Chondu the Mystic ended up with a unicorn's horn, wings, chicken legs and lampreys for arms. Thrilled, he was not. That was mumblemumble years ago and the image is still stuck firmly in my brain.
10. Namor, the Submariner, who is always, always more fun than just about anyone else I can think of. (And how he manages to be so much cooler than Aquaman, who really ought to be pretty much the same guy, I've never been able to figure out.)
11. Decompressed stories and compressed stories. Seriously, both can be really, really good or really, really bad.
12. Action figures, whee!
13. Krypto the Superdog. It's a dog, with super-powers!
14. The return of Wonder Man to the Marvel Universe, when he was awakened to life as a, um, zuvembie. (Apparently the Comics Code forbade the use of the word "zombie.")
15. Getting my monthly box of comics in the mail, reading them all in a flurry within a day, and then re-reading them at my leisure.
16. Mantis and the Swordsman.
17. The Winter Soldier. Unlike many, I never cared much about Bucky as a character, but as the Winter Soldier he's become far more interesting.
18. The new Moon Knight series.
19. Deadpool! Everybody loves Deadpool! (Everybody in my house, anyway.)
20. Cosmic Boy's old costume from the 70s. (If you click the link, he's front and center at the bottom.)
21. George Perez, the first comic artist whose art I actually noticed.
22. Trade paperbacks. They make it so much easier to catch up on books I've missed so far (JLA). In rare cases (Captain America) I buy both the floppies and the trade.
23. The Young Avengers. Do they still have a book?
24. Cat-Man of the Secret Six, and I'm not sure why.
25. Those rare, all-too-brief moments between major company-wide comic events.
26. Being able to share my comics with my kids.
27. The comic internet, particularly the community of comic bloggers.
28. Fred Hembeck.
29. Stan Lee.
30. Every damn Avengers book they've ever come out with.
31. Ms. Marvel back in the 70s. I still like her, but when she first appeared she was something special.
32. Spider-Woman back in the 70s. Even then a non-traditional superheroine.
33. The Huntress in all her incarnations; she was amazing to watch, and had several of the best costume designs I've seen.
34. Character-driven stories. Someone had a blog post not long ago addressing character vs. plot in comics. Preferably you get both, but I'll drop a book faster for plot with no character than I will for character with no plot.
35. The original Invaders series.
36. Hawkeye (Clint Barton), who could never maintain a series of his own but was nonetheless the heart of the old Avengers for many years.
37. My few-and-far-between visits to a real comic book shop.
38. The Irredeemable Ant-Man. Second on my list of books to read every month it appears.
39. The original Damage Control mini-series, and the concept of there being a company in the business of picking up the pieces after a superhero battle.
40. The Spirit. Which I can now include in a list of favorite mainstream comic stuff.
41. Greer Nelson as The Cat, and in her early Tigra days. (Haven't been a big fan in recent years, but back in the day she was pretty great.)
42. The Vision and the Scarlet Witch. No, I don't want them back as they were, but at the time they were the best couple in comics.
43. The roller skates on Iron Man's old armor.
44. The relationship between the Beast and Wonder Man in the old Avengers book.
45. Red kryptonite.
46. Plastic Man in the JLA.
47. Nick Fury.
48. The Fantasti-Car.
49. Green Lantern rings.
50. Dr. Doom. Best villain ever, period.
2 comments:
I would certainly beg to differ regardling number fifty. His mask is made of metal, after all...
BAH!
Doom's metal cannot be controlled by magnetism. Your stupidity is the only thing that saves you from dying where you stand, imbecile.
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